1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:02,680 Speaker 1: What you hear in this podcast does not implicate any 2 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:06,120 Speaker 1: individual or entity in any criminal activity. The views and 3 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:09,440 Speaker 1: opinions are solely those of the individuals participating in the podcast. 4 00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:15,200 Speaker 1: Previously on the Missionary I founded Serving his Children, How 5 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:19,600 Speaker 1: old I was nineteen nineteen. Obviously the Lord really had 6 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:22,639 Speaker 1: a special plan for you. You were either pro Renee 7 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:24,400 Speaker 1: and going to stand up for her and you know, 8 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 1: have her back, or you were very much against what 9 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:30,920 Speaker 1: she was doing and just kind of outraged by it. 10 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:34,880 Speaker 1: All and five children died at an unlicensed treatment center 11 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:37,680 Speaker 1: for malnourished kids in Uganda. I used to take the 12 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: did Buddhist Renee is being sued and ugand in court 13 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:44,600 Speaker 1: every time a kid dies. You're writing a blog post, 14 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:48,320 Speaker 1: You're getting all its attention. You might become addicted. What 15 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:54,080 Speaker 1: leads Renee to go down this path? She thinks that's 16 00:00:54,080 --> 00:01:03,920 Speaker 1: what God wants her to do. Ye Just two days before, 17 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:09,360 Speaker 1: I had heard a horror story. After driving all morning, 18 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:14,360 Speaker 1: I approached a small, half collapsing hut. The home was 19 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:21,080 Speaker 1: littered with trash, animal waste. My mind was reeling. As 20 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 1: I walked closer and closer, a dread came over me, 21 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 1: but also a strong desire to run as fast as 22 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: I could to comfort those hurting to fix the problem 23 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:39,040 Speaker 1: at hand. I remained calm. I prayed. As my eyes 24 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:42,120 Speaker 1: adjusted to the dark, I saw a little skeleton of 25 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: a child sitting on the dirt floor. Her name was 26 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:51,520 Speaker 1: Naba Cosa, and she wasn't a child. She was a 27 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:54,960 Speaker 1: woman in her twenties. And the woman telling this story 28 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 1: is Renee Bach. She wrote about her encounter with Nabucoza 29 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,800 Speaker 1: and Vivid Deep Hill and her blog. We had an 30 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:04,560 Speaker 1: actor read the post and we edited them for clarity. 31 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:07,960 Speaker 1: But this is what Renee wrote back in August of two. 32 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:12,680 Speaker 1: When she saw a movement, she slowly lifted her eyes, 33 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:16,920 Speaker 1: and when I saw a fear, deathlike look in her eyes, 34 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:24,760 Speaker 1: I screamed inwardly. My heart stopped. No one was caring 35 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:27,640 Speaker 1: for her, no one was feeding her, no one was 36 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:31,919 Speaker 1: even looking at her. And that is how Napacosa has 37 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:36,960 Speaker 1: lived every day for the past twenty three years until now. 38 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 1: Renee wasn't the only one in Napocosa has had that day. 39 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:48,799 Speaker 1: Her friend Ashley Laverty was there too. She smelt very 40 00:02:48,919 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: foul and it was just it was horrible. It was really, 41 00:02:56,240 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: really horrible. Okay, As Renee and actually walked closer, they 42 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:10,639 Speaker 1: heard a slow, continuous tapping. Napacosa was holding an empty 43 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:13,960 Speaker 1: mug and using the little energy she had to tap 44 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:18,240 Speaker 1: it on the ground. I feel like she was tapping 45 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,840 Speaker 1: that cup to signal that she wanted something to eat 46 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:25,760 Speaker 1: or drink. I had a flask like a travel mug 47 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: of tea in the car. It was just black tea 48 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,120 Speaker 1: with maybe a little bit of honey or sugar in it, 49 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 1: and I ran and got it and she just started 50 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 1: like downing it, like just gulping it down. Renee and 51 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:43,720 Speaker 1: Ashley wanted to get her out of that hut immediately. 52 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: She was a full grown adult woman, but I was 53 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: able to like just scooper up in my two arms. 54 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:56,000 Speaker 1: According to her medical documents, Napocoza Wade only thirty seven pounds. 55 00:03:56,880 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 1: But the needy will not be forgotten, nor the hope 56 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:06,320 Speaker 1: of the afflicted ever perish. Some seen outside, they cleaned her, 57 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:08,960 Speaker 1: wrapped her in a cloth, and held her tight as 58 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 1: if she were a baby. I wanted her to know 59 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: that she was loved not only by me, but by 60 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,120 Speaker 1: a great, big, huge God, and that he had not 61 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 1: forgotten about her. I wanted her to know that he 62 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:29,280 Speaker 1: was coming to her rescue, but Napocosa wasn't rescued. Within 63 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:34,359 Speaker 1: a few days, Nabocsa would be dead. In the next 64 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:38,240 Speaker 1: few years, there would be one hundred five deaths according 65 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:43,839 Speaker 1: to Serving his Children's own records, but Nabokoza was the 66 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:51,320 Speaker 1: first to die under their roof an association with I 67 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:56,839 Speaker 1: Heart Media. I'm Hellymaca CONDI, I'm Roger Gola, I'm Malcolm Burnley. 68 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 1: This is the Missionary episode two thirty seven pounds. Renee 69 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:14,080 Speaker 1: and Ashley brought Napocoza back to Serving His Children to 70 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:17,400 Speaker 1: try and nurse her back to health. As always, Renee 71 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 1: was hopeful, determined. Renee just started feeding her bryson beans, water. 72 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:26,920 Speaker 1: She would eat as much as she could and drink 73 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:32,160 Speaker 1: as much as she could, and she started to perk 74 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:37,080 Speaker 1: up and like gain more energy. Ashley went home for 75 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:39,800 Speaker 1: the night and left Renee with Nabucoza and a new 76 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:44,800 Speaker 1: volunteer named Shanna, who declined an interview. But according to 77 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 1: Renee's blog, it wasn't long before things got worse. I 78 00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:51,560 Speaker 1: felt sure that Nabacosa was going to be with Jesus, 79 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:55,279 Speaker 1: that at any moment she would leave this earth headed 80 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 1: to heaven, where a heavenly host would welcome her with 81 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:02,159 Speaker 1: open arms. Renee wasn't going to let that happen without 82 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 1: a fight. She bundled Nabucoza in a blanket, loaded her 83 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:11,839 Speaker 1: into a van and took her to the hospital, but 84 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:16,000 Speaker 1: they were turned away. We were driving frantically through the 85 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:18,360 Speaker 1: city of Kampala in the middle of the night, searching 86 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:21,599 Speaker 1: for anyone who would give her a second glance. I 87 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:29,560 Speaker 1: was terrified, hysterical, sad, angry. They tried three more hospitals 88 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:33,800 Speaker 1: but were turned away again and again. In one of 89 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:37,440 Speaker 1: our last attempts, I ran into a hospital barefoot, carrying 90 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:41,120 Speaker 1: Nabucoza in my arms like a small infant. No one 91 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:44,119 Speaker 1: even looked up, and after sitting on a cold floor 92 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:46,680 Speaker 1: for over an hour, the doctor told me to leave 93 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:51,760 Speaker 1: her existing ivy in and take her home. Take her home. 94 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:56,120 Speaker 1: They were out of options, so that's what they did. 95 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:00,279 Speaker 1: They got back to serving his children in the middle 96 00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:03,160 Speaker 1: of the night and laid Nabucosa in bed with hot 97 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:08,880 Speaker 1: water bottles. Renee slept by her side to keep her warm, 98 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:14,840 Speaker 1: and then a small miracle happened. Today, Navacosa is awake, 99 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:18,800 Speaker 1: she can sit up, she's eating small amounts of food 100 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:21,520 Speaker 1: and keeping it down, and she can move a little 101 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:27,040 Speaker 1: bit and make noises in response. Today, Nabucosa is very 102 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 1: much alive. Renee and I started off as friends, and 103 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:41,200 Speaker 1: we had similar passions or interests in that, like I 104 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:45,960 Speaker 1: had worked with children suffering from malnutrition. Ashley and Renee 105 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: were part of the same missionary community in Ginger. Ashley 106 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:53,920 Speaker 1: says she even volunteered at serving his children, but she 107 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 1: saw herself as radically different from the other missionaries. She 108 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:01,360 Speaker 1: wasn't raised in an evangelical family, and she was well traveled. 109 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:04,680 Speaker 1: Her father was an American diplomat. From the time I 110 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:06,600 Speaker 1: was a little girl, like, I always had dreamt of 111 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 1: coming to Africa. And I don't know if it's because 112 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 1: like I had been to all these other you know, 113 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:16,040 Speaker 1: countries and continents. Um, this is gonna really silly. But 114 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:18,960 Speaker 1: as a child, I really think it's because I was 115 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:22,680 Speaker 1: such an animal lover and like idolized women like Jane 116 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:26,080 Speaker 1: Goodall and Diane Fosse, and like it was the wildlife 117 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:30,000 Speaker 1: that initially attracted me and like the nature. In college, 118 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:34,080 Speaker 1: actually studied health sciences and worked with disabled children before 119 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:37,960 Speaker 1: moving to Uganda was like, but it made her nervous 120 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:41,440 Speaker 1: to see what little experience her peers had. She was 121 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:44,520 Speaker 1: surrounded by young women who felt called to do service 122 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:47,600 Speaker 1: but had never actually studied or worked in these fields, 123 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:50,199 Speaker 1: and felt like they could just figure it out as 124 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: they went along. And Yeah, a lot of young girls, 125 00:08:54,120 --> 00:09:00,760 Speaker 1: you know, late teens, early twenties, generally not educated beyond 126 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:08,040 Speaker 1: secondary school or high school, never having any work experience 127 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:12,720 Speaker 1: like none, but would then graduate and come over here 128 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:15,520 Speaker 1: to set up their own organization. I'm going to come 129 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:17,480 Speaker 1: and do my own thing so i can be my 130 00:09:17,559 --> 00:09:21,800 Speaker 1: own boss and run my own show. That was very, very, 131 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:27,600 Speaker 1: very much a trend, I'll be honest, though. One thing 132 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:30,600 Speaker 1: that I found a bit ironic about this story is 133 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:34,439 Speaker 1: how many of these relatively young white American missionaries were 134 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:38,080 Speaker 1: ready to criticize each other but think of themselves as 135 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:42,000 Speaker 1: the one white person doing it right in Africa. I mean, 136 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:45,720 Speaker 1: how did these young women without any medical training end 137 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 1: up taking care of an incredibly sick woman in the 138 00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:54,480 Speaker 1: first place. Back then, in missionary communities like Ginger, experience 139 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 1: was often overlooked. What mattered most was your compassion, your piety, 140 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:06,640 Speaker 1: and your it meant in two thousand ten, serving his 141 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 1: children was feeding hundreds of children every week, sometimes as 142 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 1: many as a thousand. It was also around this time 143 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:17,559 Speaker 1: that Renee started doing more than feeding kids. She began 144 00:10:17,679 --> 00:10:21,200 Speaker 1: taking them in. Children who were sick with tuberculosis or 145 00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:25,120 Speaker 1: malaria now nutrition. Renee's team would bring them back and 146 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:28,080 Speaker 1: forth to the hospital for treatment, while letting the kids 147 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:31,199 Speaker 1: in their families stay at the center for free. Here's 148 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:34,679 Speaker 1: how Katie Davis, one of Renee's old friends, described her 149 00:10:34,679 --> 00:10:37,240 Speaker 1: in a blog back in two thousand ten. We had 150 00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:40,920 Speaker 1: a voice actor read this too. Renee lives with purpose. 151 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:45,360 Speaker 1: She is intentional about loving people with the love of Christ. 152 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:48,800 Speaker 1: She stops for one person and loves that person as 153 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:51,560 Speaker 1: if they were Christ himself. In her living room, she 154 00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:55,200 Speaker 1: spends her day's nurturing children who we all swear will 155 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:59,720 Speaker 1: surely die back to health, preparing awful smelling high calorie milk, 156 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:04,560 Speaker 1: and mopping vomit off the floor and herself. And she 157 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:08,600 Speaker 1: doesn't complain because she knows she's doing it for Jesus. 158 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:14,320 Speaker 1: My childhood hero was Mother Teresa. By today hero is Renee, 159 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:21,120 Speaker 1: a modern Mother Teresa. That was her reputation back then, 160 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:24,920 Speaker 1: even people who had never met Renee were inspired by 161 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:28,200 Speaker 1: her and wanted to help her play a tiny role 162 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:32,040 Speaker 1: in her mission. In that same blog post, Katie asks 163 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:34,480 Speaker 1: people to help Renee buy a new car for work, 164 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:37,240 Speaker 1: a car that could be used to rescue more people 165 00:11:37,280 --> 00:11:41,680 Speaker 1: like Naba Coosa. Renee needs a car, and a good one. 166 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:44,480 Speaker 1: The kind were looking for a cost between ten and 167 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:48,360 Speaker 1: twelve thousand dollars that serving his children currently just doesn't have, 168 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:53,280 Speaker 1: and people in the comments promised to donate. Weeks later, 169 00:11:53,559 --> 00:11:59,720 Speaker 1: they got that car, a white Toyota land Cruiser. Navacosa 170 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:03,600 Speaker 1: is a proving tremendously. It is nothing short of a miracle, 171 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:07,199 Speaker 1: and no doubt, due to Renee and Shannon's devoted around 172 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:10,400 Speaker 1: the clock care and a God who is more awesome 173 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:20,000 Speaker 1: than I can fathom, Nabacosa's recovery wouldn't last. Within a 174 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:22,920 Speaker 1: couple of days, her health took a turn for the worse. 175 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:27,160 Speaker 1: I do remember coming back and she was lying in 176 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:30,680 Speaker 1: there hooked up to I v S that had been 177 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:37,040 Speaker 1: administered by Renee. She was very uncomfortable and she was groaning, 178 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:41,600 Speaker 1: and there was just like a very foul smell coming 179 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:47,880 Speaker 1: from her and that room. I just remember just being 180 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:50,760 Speaker 1: in shock by all of it. She wasn't in a 181 00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:55,560 Speaker 1: medical facility, she was just being treated from the center. 182 00:12:56,440 --> 00:13:00,360 Speaker 1: She wasn't getting any better despite having you know, a 183 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:04,440 Speaker 1: so called treatment plan and and food and water, and 184 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:15,520 Speaker 1: then just declined so rapidly. My friend Napocosa went to 185 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:19,120 Speaker 1: be with Jesus. God decided that it was time for 186 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:23,360 Speaker 1: her to come home, to leave her earthly pain behind 187 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:28,400 Speaker 1: and come worship Him for the rest of eternity. Now 188 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:30,080 Speaker 1: I have to say, this is not the way I 189 00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:34,800 Speaker 1: wanted things to happen. I had other plans. I had 190 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:38,640 Speaker 1: a different end to her story and mind. But this 191 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:42,480 Speaker 1: is God's perfect end to her story, and the story 192 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:50,800 Speaker 1: is not mine to write. Renee told a moving story, 193 00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:55,280 Speaker 1: and as we'll see, she'd keep telling it. But here's 194 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:59,320 Speaker 1: the thing. From the beginning, actually doubted Renee's version of events. 195 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:03,400 Speaker 1: A blog of her running through these hospitals barefoot. I 196 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:07,920 Speaker 1: feel like that was maybe for exaggeration purposes. Ashley wasn't 197 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:11,640 Speaker 1: with Rani that night, but she did know about Ugandan hospitals. 198 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:14,920 Speaker 1: She had fostered dozens of kids and often had to 199 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:19,400 Speaker 1: navigate Uganda's complex health care system, so actually doubted that 200 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:23,640 Speaker 1: Renee Nabucoza would be turned away like that again and again. 201 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:27,720 Speaker 1: The details just felt off to her. I don't know 202 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:33,480 Speaker 1: what kind of doctor would prescribe treatment for somebody that's sick, 203 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:37,200 Speaker 1: send them home and say you can just continue this 204 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:42,040 Speaker 1: treatment from home, you who has no medical training. Like 205 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:44,080 Speaker 1: that is shocking to me. I mean, it would be 206 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:47,160 Speaker 1: one thing if all she needed was a dose of antibiotics. 207 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:51,360 Speaker 1: But like when somebody is dying, starting to death and 208 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:55,800 Speaker 1: rotting from a host of infections, you don't just give 209 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:58,640 Speaker 1: a list of instruction to say, take her on home. 210 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:03,120 Speaker 1: She can be managed for him home. As Renee tells it, 211 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:07,560 Speaker 1: Nabokoza fought to live until the very end until God 212 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:11,000 Speaker 1: decided it was her time to go. But Ashley says 213 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:14,640 Speaker 1: she was there when Napocosa died, and she remembers a 214 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:20,200 Speaker 1: completely different version where Nabacosa's death wasn't dignified, wasn't peaceful 215 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:24,800 Speaker 1: at all. At this point, she had been allowed to 216 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:27,560 Speaker 1: go outside and she was sitting on the veranda, and 217 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:31,840 Speaker 1: I believe she had been eating lunch, and all of 218 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:35,840 Speaker 1: a sudden she took a turn for the worst. She 219 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:40,480 Speaker 1: just like the eyes started rolling back in her head, 220 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:47,360 Speaker 1: gurgling as if she was like gonna, you know, possibly 221 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:55,320 Speaker 1: faint or honestly die. And Renee ran into the house. 222 00:15:56,400 --> 00:16:00,920 Speaker 1: She had her own little pharmacy set up, and she 223 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:06,720 Speaker 1: grabbed a medication, came outside and injected her with it, 224 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:20,800 Speaker 1: and then she died, but fell backwards. In Ashley's description 225 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:25,520 Speaker 1: is so alarming and almost violent. We were left wondering 226 00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:29,240 Speaker 1: how much had Renee's faith blinded her. Did Renee call 227 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:31,440 Speaker 1: us the death of the woman she set out to save. 228 00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:35,040 Speaker 1: It's not like she was held by Renee As she 229 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:38,520 Speaker 1: peacefully slipped away. It was like, oh my gosh, like 230 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:40,880 Speaker 1: something is happening with her. I'm going to run inside, 231 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:48,400 Speaker 1: come back out, jabber, and then bool, she's dead. Nama 232 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 1: Coosa's death spelled the end of Ashley and Renee's friendship. 233 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:57,080 Speaker 1: Nine years later, Ashley would write an affidavit against Renee, 234 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:01,560 Speaker 1: accusing her of illegally practicing medicine in and she would 235 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:26,120 Speaker 1: use Nabokoza as her primary example. You get it, y'all. 236 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:34,000 Speaker 1: Get Missionaries weren't just something I read about in history books. 237 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:41,160 Speaker 1: They were something I grew up hearing about for years. 238 00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:44,520 Speaker 1: My family comes from a place called Tuntumu, a two 239 00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:49,720 Speaker 1: hour drive from Nairobi. Yeah, it's a beautiful town, nestled 240 00:17:49,720 --> 00:17:53,600 Speaker 1: in the rolling hills and highlands of central Tania. I 241 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:55,840 Speaker 1: live in the US now, but when I first heard 242 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:59,440 Speaker 1: about Renee, I was living in Kenya. I moved there 243 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:01,879 Speaker 1: back into I was and eighteen, mostly to be a 244 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:06,120 Speaker 1: freelance reporter. But I also wanted to travel the country 245 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 1: with my cousins and spend time with my grandmother or 246 00:18:09,359 --> 00:18:12,360 Speaker 1: show show, as we say in cuckoo you or native language. 247 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:16,480 Speaker 1: I wanted to know her and record her history my 248 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:28,919 Speaker 1: never days like me. When I wasn't practicing my cuckoo you, 249 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:32,080 Speaker 1: I was walking in the family farm, picking mangoes and 250 00:18:32,119 --> 00:18:37,560 Speaker 1: avocados straight from the trees, or playing fetch with the 251 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:45,439 Speaker 1: dogs and saying hide my uncle's cows path. But whenever 252 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:47,760 Speaker 1: I walked through it, I also felt like I could 253 00:18:47,800 --> 00:18:51,520 Speaker 1: feel the weight of history on my shoulders. Britain has 254 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:54,359 Speaker 1: brought much good to Kenya. A standards of living are 255 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:56,800 Speaker 1: growing still higher as more of her people learn the 256 00:18:56,880 --> 00:18:59,679 Speaker 1: lessons that the white man has to teach. More than 257 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:02,800 Speaker 1: a hundred years ago, Tumutumu became one of the very 258 00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:06,920 Speaker 1: first missionary outposts of the Church of Scotland and across 259 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:10,000 Speaker 1: the ridge from our home, that's where the Catholic missionary 260 00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:16,000 Speaker 1: set up. Down the street were the Anglicans. Mister Littleton 261 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:18,959 Speaker 1: lens of the maumas threats on the lives of Catholic missionaries, 262 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:21,920 Speaker 1: and in the Nyanza province he talks with elders of 263 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:25,480 Speaker 1: the Kukuyo tribe from which the Maumau drew hundreds of recruits, 264 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:31,120 Speaker 1: many of whom have not been arrested. You can see 265 00:19:31,119 --> 00:19:35,080 Speaker 1: the presence of missionaries everywhere. They established one of the 266 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:39,159 Speaker 1: very first hospitals in the region to Mutumu Hospital, and 267 00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:43,000 Speaker 1: one of the best schools to Mutumu Primary School where 268 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:51,800 Speaker 1: my father went. He The one thing my grandmother would 269 00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:55,400 Speaker 1: talk about proudly was her lifelong membership in the church 270 00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:58,159 Speaker 1: as women's Guild. It was a point of pride for 271 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:01,960 Speaker 1: her and in our town. It made her a respectable woman. 272 00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:06,520 Speaker 1: What does she want us to remember? I might remember then, 273 00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:12,320 Speaker 1: which it tell us about the women's guild? He give them. 274 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:16,800 Speaker 1: On the day I recorded her, she was wearing her 275 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:21,200 Speaker 1: favorite light blue bandanna. It read p C E A 276 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:26,719 Speaker 1: Presbyterian Church of East Africa and If you ask some 277 00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:29,960 Speaker 1: of the older Kenyons about missionaries, this is what they 278 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:34,440 Speaker 1: talk about. The good things. For her generation. The church 279 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:38,320 Speaker 1: represented a new Africa with a brand new set of opportunities. 280 00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:45,960 Speaker 1: When my grandmother died last year, dozens of women from 281 00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:49,840 Speaker 1: the guild came to the church. They wore the same 282 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:55,280 Speaker 1: blue bandana that my grandmother always wore. Together, they carried 283 00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:59,520 Speaker 1: my grandmother's coffin out of the church, her bandanna draped 284 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:15,439 Speaker 1: over it. To me, you can't talk about missionaries without 285 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:19,639 Speaker 1: talking about colonialism. The missionaries had come with promises to 286 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:23,520 Speaker 1: educate and convert Kenyon's, but they were also complicit in 287 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:27,240 Speaker 1: the theft of their land and their resources. But whenever 288 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:30,040 Speaker 1: I asked her about the other side of that history, 289 00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:34,360 Speaker 1: the dark side, how the British detained tens of thousands 290 00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:39,479 Speaker 1: of cuku Are tribe and forcibly relocated people to barbed 291 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:44,399 Speaker 1: wire camps, burned down homes, set up curfews, all to 292 00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:47,960 Speaker 1: keep them down. I always had the sense that my 293 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:53,280 Speaker 1: grandmother just didn't want to speak about those things. To her. 294 00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:57,560 Speaker 1: The British had done terrible things, but the missionaries had 295 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:01,880 Speaker 1: done God's work. They brought hospital is to save children, schools, 296 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:05,880 Speaker 1: to bring opportunities, and I get that when I think 297 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:09,160 Speaker 1: about Renee Boch. The question isn't whether or not all 298 00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:13,080 Speaker 1: missionaries are bad, but I do wonder what would the 299 00:22:13,119 --> 00:22:16,760 Speaker 1: you Gonde and she encountered say. That's what has driven 300 00:22:16,760 --> 00:22:20,760 Speaker 1: me throughout this entire podcast actually hearing the you Gonde 301 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:24,000 Speaker 1: on side of the story. Would they see her as 302 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:28,320 Speaker 1: my grandmother did, doing God's work by bringing hospitals and schools, 303 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:31,840 Speaker 1: or would they see her as a harbinger of something darker, 304 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:37,640 Speaker 1: an enabler of something more dangerous, something so terrible that 305 00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:47,280 Speaker 1: no one could speak about it now. A lot of 306 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:50,040 Speaker 1: things Renee wrote in her blog are hard to believe. 307 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:54,439 Speaker 1: Did she really run barefoot through a hospital? Did a 308 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:58,720 Speaker 1: doctor actually tell her to manage a patient herself? But 309 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:01,800 Speaker 1: what grabs my attention the most is something that Renee 310 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:05,840 Speaker 1: implies again and again in her blogs, this idea that 311 00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:09,760 Speaker 1: you Gondan families didn't care enough and that was why 312 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:13,200 Speaker 1: their children were starving, as if love could heal any 313 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:18,840 Speaker 1: amount of poverty. After Nabacosa died, Renee wrote this, you 314 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:21,520 Speaker 1: should know that thousands of people are praying for you 315 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:24,680 Speaker 1: and your family. I know your mom is feeling so 316 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:28,080 Speaker 1: sad about the past twenty three years. I told her 317 00:23:28,119 --> 00:23:31,240 Speaker 1: you forgave her. One of the only things Renee and 318 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:35,960 Speaker 1: Ashley agree on is that Naubakoza was neglected, had been starved. 319 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,560 Speaker 1: In fact, in her affidavit, Renee says that one of 320 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:42,879 Speaker 1: Nabucoza's relatives told her they put her in a room 321 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:47,040 Speaker 1: to wait for her to die. Sweet Nabucosa lived a 322 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:50,520 Speaker 1: life full of incredible pain and suffering. She lived a 323 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:54,400 Speaker 1: life of neglect, a life of abuse. She was even 324 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:56,840 Speaker 1: denied the right to be loved by her own mother. 325 00:23:57,960 --> 00:23:59,919 Speaker 1: Can you even begin to imagine what that would be, La, 326 00:24:01,800 --> 00:24:06,520 Speaker 1: I can't. After Renee posted Navacosa's story, it spread like 327 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:11,320 Speaker 1: wildfire from one Christian blog to another, the parable of 328 00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:15,480 Speaker 1: poor Nabacosa, who had never received love until the day 329 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:19,240 Speaker 1: she was rescued by these two young white women. Here's 330 00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:22,080 Speaker 1: some of what they wrote. She was in her awful 331 00:24:22,119 --> 00:24:24,960 Speaker 1: state only because no one had cared for her, No 332 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:27,720 Speaker 1: one had loved her, no one had even given her 333 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:30,199 Speaker 1: a second thought. That she survived as long as she 334 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:32,920 Speaker 1: did in the care of Anti Renee is a miracle 335 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:36,240 Speaker 1: in itself. I've never held a starving person in my arms, 336 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:39,800 Speaker 1: her dry skin warm against mine, and prayed she lived. 337 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:49,000 Speaker 1: Renee has it was just too easy, too convenient to 338 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:53,360 Speaker 1: cast off Nabacosa's family as these silent villains in Renee's 339 00:24:53,359 --> 00:24:57,679 Speaker 1: heroic story, a cheap plot device that was eerily familiar, 340 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:01,240 Speaker 1: like the casual mention of fly is swarming around an 341 00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:06,359 Speaker 1: African child's head. But what would Nabucoza's family say. We 342 00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:09,960 Speaker 1: needed to hear in their words what happened. So Regiv 343 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:21,320 Speaker 1: went to go find them. I set out early one 344 00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:26,480 Speaker 1: Sunday morning, all right. I headed north from Gina for 345 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:30,280 Speaker 1: about an hour, following the Nile downstream along the same 346 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:32,760 Speaker 1: dirt roads that Renee would have taken when she found 347 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:36,560 Speaker 1: Nabucoza ten years earlier. I'm on the back of a 348 00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:41,280 Speaker 1: motorcycle with smy my translator, and fix her. I'm holding 349 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:43,640 Speaker 1: the recorder in one hand and the seat would together. 350 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:54,400 Speaker 1: So Mom and Nabokoza is still here. No, she's gone already, Okay. 351 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:57,120 Speaker 1: So May was a former employee of serving his children 352 00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:00,520 Speaker 1: who had been fired back in over a pay dispute. 353 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:04,440 Speaker 1: Now he's a witness in the case against Renee. So 354 00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:07,199 Speaker 1: he's not exactly a neutral party, but he knew the 355 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:11,000 Speaker 1: local language and where Navacoza's village was, and we had 356 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:14,679 Speaker 1: all his translations checked with the third party in full disclosure. 357 00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:19,040 Speaker 1: Our team chose to pay some for this work. Anyway, 358 00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:23,000 Speaker 1: we got to the village and asked around for Navacoza's mother. 359 00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:30,000 Speaker 1: So where are we now? Yeah? Okay, And pretty quickly 360 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:35,360 Speaker 1: we found not her mother but her sister, Lydia. I'm 361 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:41,240 Speaker 1: she was outside of a small brick house cooking over 362 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:46,000 Speaker 1: a fire. Her kids were nearby sorting some nuts. Actually, 363 00:26:46,080 --> 00:27:02,080 Speaker 1: does she know anything information? Litia's eyes got big as 364 00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:16,199 Speaker 1: she told sam story Ginger masses vunteers in bazoong I 365 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:25,280 Speaker 1: recognized some words ginger Messungu. She's going to the term 366 00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:27,960 Speaker 1: as so far as she's the sister to the little 367 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:33,359 Speaker 1: Navakosa and when Navakosa was sick, she's among the people 368 00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:40,480 Speaker 1: who escorted Navacoza to the clinic in Gina suburb. In 369 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:43,359 Speaker 1: all of Renee's blog posts about Navocosa, she told the 370 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:46,520 Speaker 1: story of neglect, a story about a woman cast aside 371 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:50,480 Speaker 1: by her own family. She never once mentioned that Nabucoza's 372 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:56,000 Speaker 1: sister was by her side for four whole days did 373 00:27:56,040 --> 00:28:03,320 Speaker 1: she believe that these missouis were doctors? Well, you kid, 374 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:13,920 Speaker 1: but no, it is this money. She said, she didn't 375 00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:17,119 Speaker 1: know whether they were doctors, but she felt like a 376 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:32,399 Speaker 1: goat being dragged along. I met Navacosa's mom, Jane a 377 00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:35,479 Speaker 1: week later at her farm. She had a bundle of 378 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:37,720 Speaker 1: corn husks on her head and wore a tied eye 379 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:41,400 Speaker 1: green tashiki and a long skirt. She sat down the 380 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:43,560 Speaker 1: corn husks and brought a few logs for us to 381 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:46,680 Speaker 1: sit on in her front yard. I wanted to hear 382 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:49,280 Speaker 1: about how Navacosa came to be the way she was. 383 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:56,000 Speaker 1: I brought along another interpreter, Sophie tell Us from Navocosa's birth. 384 00:28:56,440 --> 00:29:01,080 Speaker 1: When was Navacasa born and was she healthy as a child? Oh? 385 00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:10,560 Speaker 1: Yea as valubuality. Did I have my nine? It did 386 00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:16,200 Speaker 1: two and she was a healthy baby, no problems. Jane 387 00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:19,959 Speaker 1: said that at age three they noticed Novacosa's hands were 388 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:23,720 Speaker 1: different sizes. One hand was big, another one was small. 389 00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:27,960 Speaker 1: That's how it started. And she was speaking normally like 390 00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:32,440 Speaker 1: her brand developing like everybody else or how get a balloon? 391 00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:38,520 Speaker 1: Jean going to nyog the okay, she could not speak. 392 00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:43,280 Speaker 1: I learned that Nabucoza used to walk despite half her 393 00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:48,800 Speaker 1: body being paralyzed, but she also regularly had seizures. Nevertheless, 394 00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:53,280 Speaker 1: for twenty seven years they got by. When Jane spent 395 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:56,160 Speaker 1: time with her husband, Nabocoza would stay with her grandmother 396 00:29:56,960 --> 00:29:58,719 Speaker 1: and they had always done their best to take care 397 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:02,760 Speaker 1: of her. The people, the Missoulus that found Navocosa, they're 398 00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:06,120 Speaker 1: saying that she was neglected, that she was not eating, 399 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:11,640 Speaker 1: that they were trying to starve her. That's the way 400 00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:17,760 Speaker 1: she's saying, you know, towards in that case, we are lying. 401 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:23,800 Speaker 1: Jane denied neglect. She said Navacosa had been closely cared 402 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:26,400 Speaker 1: for and NGO in the area had even been giving 403 00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:30,200 Speaker 1: her anti Caesar medication with a warning never to stop 404 00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:33,160 Speaker 1: taking them. Or as Jane put it, it would hit 405 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:37,560 Speaker 1: Navocosa so bad. But when Renee brought Nabucoza back to 406 00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:41,320 Speaker 1: serving his children, that's exactly what they did. I can't 407 00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:45,600 Speaker 1: a facigated real. They were told to stop the medication 408 00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:49,640 Speaker 1: that she was on, so they started giving her that food. 409 00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:54,400 Speaker 1: Then I asked Jane the question that had been on 410 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:57,720 Speaker 1: my mind for months. It was the whole reason that 411 00:30:57,760 --> 00:30:59,320 Speaker 1: had come all this way to meet her in the 412 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:07,760 Speaker 1: first place, Um, how did Nabucosa pass away? At it? 413 00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:14,120 Speaker 1: And I have found it? Went after bathing her, she 414 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:18,400 Speaker 1: was trying to give some food and then she saw 415 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:21,960 Speaker 1: that food was no longer going now carrying her to 416 00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:28,760 Speaker 1: put down the bid, she went like that. The way 417 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:33,040 Speaker 1: that Jane spoke, she made it clear that Navocoza wasn't neglected. 418 00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:36,640 Speaker 1: She was loved by her family. They were with her 419 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:40,800 Speaker 1: in her last days. That meant Renee had gotten the 420 00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:44,960 Speaker 1: story wrong, or at the very least made it her own. 421 00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:50,120 Speaker 1: I think Jane impacked my things, But just as I 422 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:52,360 Speaker 1: was about to leave, she asked if I had a 423 00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:56,960 Speaker 1: photo of Navocosa. I pulled out my phone and sifted 424 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:02,040 Speaker 1: through Renee's blogs just for a second. Then I handed 425 00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:05,240 Speaker 1: my phone to her. It was a photo of Navacosa 426 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:10,320 Speaker 1: lying in a bed with fresh, clean clothes on. Her 427 00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:13,520 Speaker 1: eyes are wide open and she's looking right at the camera. 428 00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:17,560 Speaker 1: M Jane spent a few quiet moments with a smile 429 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:23,360 Speaker 1: on her face, and I realized that for Jane, it 430 00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:26,520 Speaker 1: might have been ten years since she even seen a 431 00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:40,320 Speaker 1: photograph of her own daughter. Before Nabucoza died, a story 432 00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:43,840 Speaker 1: was already being written about her life in Renee's blogs, 433 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:47,840 Speaker 1: it was a story of unimaginable neglect, of starvation, and 434 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:53,240 Speaker 1: ultimately the origin story of Renee's own heroism. Nine years later, 435 00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:57,840 Speaker 1: Ashley uses Navacosa's story too in her case against Renee. 436 00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:03,320 Speaker 1: Only this story is a victimization of Napacosa being injected, 437 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:07,920 Speaker 1: stabbed with a syringe by Renee, killed rather than saved. 438 00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:12,400 Speaker 1: So why should we trust Ashley's version any more than Renee's. 439 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:15,680 Speaker 1: Of course, he might be thinking, well, what about the 440 00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:20,360 Speaker 1: family who says they never abandoned not Pacosa, never neglected her, 441 00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:23,920 Speaker 1: hadn't done their best even with few resources. Is it 442 00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:27,440 Speaker 1: possible they might not be telling the truth. Yes, of course, 443 00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:30,920 Speaker 1: but that's not really the point. The point is that Renee, 444 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:33,479 Speaker 1: in Ashley, and other missionaries in this case that are 445 00:33:33,560 --> 00:33:36,320 Speaker 1: too often talking about what did or did not happen 446 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:40,440 Speaker 1: to Ugandan's But except for a few former employees, these 447 00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:44,560 Speaker 1: Ugandan voices are largely absent. And keep in mind that 448 00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:47,680 Speaker 1: most of the time these missionaries don't even speak any 449 00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:52,720 Speaker 1: of the local languages. Who gets to tell the story matters, 450 00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:57,400 Speaker 1: and how they tell it matters too. For Renee, not 451 00:33:57,520 --> 00:34:00,240 Speaker 1: Beacosa's death could have been an early warning that she 452 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:04,000 Speaker 1: was in over her head, but Renee thought is something different, 453 00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:11,359 Speaker 1: an opportunity, a rolling cry. Navacosa's life was not in vain. 454 00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:15,680 Speaker 1: God is still using her even today. God has used 455 00:34:15,680 --> 00:34:17,360 Speaker 1: her to put a beautiful face and name to the 456 00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:21,400 Speaker 1: word starvation, to make the hunger crisis real for people 457 00:34:21,440 --> 00:34:26,720 Speaker 1: all around the world. Navacosa's life mattered. Thousands have fallen 458 00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:29,319 Speaker 1: in love with this precious woman, have cried over her 459 00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:32,799 Speaker 1: pain and spent nights in prayer for her. There are 460 00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:36,600 Speaker 1: thousands of navacosa Is all around the world. Now that 461 00:34:36,719 --> 00:34:39,279 Speaker 1: you know about it, what are you going to do? 462 00:34:40,640 --> 00:34:44,000 Speaker 1: Within two months of Napacosa's death, Renee was back in 463 00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:49,280 Speaker 1: the United States, holding fundraising events at local churches from Chattanooga, Tennessee, 464 00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:53,799 Speaker 1: to Miskogee, Oklahoma. She would hold silent auctions and sell 465 00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:57,440 Speaker 1: beads and other handmade goods from Uganda, and even stage 466 00:34:57,520 --> 00:35:01,239 Speaker 1: mock feedings where churchgoers would in their own bulls and 467 00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:04,320 Speaker 1: line up for rice and beings, just like the children 468 00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:09,200 Speaker 1: in Uganda. And she would tell stories like navacasas show 469 00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:13,640 Speaker 1: pictures of children she had supposedly saved. Jackie Crawmlick is 470 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:16,799 Speaker 1: a nurse who volunteered at Serving His Children. She still 471 00:35:16,880 --> 00:35:20,480 Speaker 1: remembers one of her name's presentations. She told the story 472 00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:23,600 Speaker 1: of Navocosa, the whole story from beginning to end, like 473 00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:25,960 Speaker 1: this girl and she was a sack of blaa and 474 00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:28,680 Speaker 1: she was like stabbing and crying. The story was basically 475 00:35:28,760 --> 00:35:31,160 Speaker 1: all about how this girl was so neglected and abused 476 00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:34,120 Speaker 1: your whole life. She was neglected, neglected until you know 477 00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:38,080 Speaker 1: Renee came in and saved her, and her fundraising took 478 00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:43,000 Speaker 1: off on the back of that story. Navacasa's story was, 479 00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:47,279 Speaker 1: no doubt a powerful one. Renee was a gifted storyteller 480 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:51,320 Speaker 1: doing something we do all the time as journalists describe 481 00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:54,720 Speaker 1: and vivid details the harsh environments in which people are living, 482 00:35:55,320 --> 00:35:58,920 Speaker 1: described their suffering and lyric crazings, and end with a 483 00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:04,120 Speaker 1: glimmer of hope a call to action. Renee would continue 484 00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:07,800 Speaker 1: to post countless stories and photos of sick children on 485 00:36:07,880 --> 00:36:10,640 Speaker 1: her blog and on social media, all part of her 486 00:36:10,719 --> 00:36:15,080 Speaker 1: campaign to end child malnutrition. In a few years, Serving 487 00:36:15,160 --> 00:36:18,640 Speaker 1: His Children would go from a fledgling nonprofit to something 488 00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:23,560 Speaker 1: bigger and NGO with outsized ambitions, collecting more than one 489 00:36:23,680 --> 00:36:27,480 Speaker 1: point five million dollars in five years as the list 490 00:36:27,560 --> 00:36:31,680 Speaker 1: of donors grew longer, but Nabokoza's name would just be 491 00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:35,879 Speaker 1: the first in a different list, A long, somber one. 492 00:36:41,480 --> 00:36:45,080 Speaker 1: Next time on the Missionary, we go looking for Renee 493 00:36:45,239 --> 00:36:48,600 Speaker 1: Back and we find her sitting at home in Virginia, 494 00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:53,800 Speaker 1: her life upside down, wondering why she's an outcast. I 495 00:36:53,840 --> 00:36:57,839 Speaker 1: guess how you've been. Yeah, it's been challenging for sure. 496 00:36:58,200 --> 00:37:01,600 Speaker 1: No one wants to be be said to be murder. 497 00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:06,239 Speaker 1: People have forgotten that I'm a human, like in, a 498 00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:09,759 Speaker 1: person with emotions and someone who has children that are 499 00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:12,000 Speaker 1: going to grow up one day and google their mom's 500 00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:14,479 Speaker 1: name and say, Wow, was my mom a serial killer? 501 00:37:14,520 --> 00:37:16,919 Speaker 1: Did she start a genocide? Because that's what people said 502 00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:27,240 Speaker 1: about her. The Missionaries produced an association with iHeart Media. 503 00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:30,960 Speaker 1: It's written and reported by Roger Gola, Heleemage Condhi, and 504 00:37:31,040 --> 00:37:34,440 Speaker 1: Malcolm Burnley. It's produced by Michelle Lands and Ryan Murdoch. 505 00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:38,120 Speaker 1: Mark Lotto is our story editor. Our executive producer is 506 00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:42,080 Speaker 1: Moi Thicketter. Our fact checker is Austin Thompson. Mixing by 507 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:45,080 Speaker 1: Josh Rogisson and voice acting by Taylor Kaufman.